


*Disgusted Noise*

by EndlessExplorer



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Bathing/Washing, Bathtubs, F/M, Foot Massage, Friendship/Love, Love, Massage, Picnics, Stress Relief
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-13 20:33:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29781705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EndlessExplorer/pseuds/EndlessExplorer
Summary: After a particularly frustrating day, James helps his girlfriend calm down and relax.P.S: I'm aware that the Title isn't the best....
Relationships: Cassandra Pentaghast/Male Trevelyan, Male Inquisitor/Cassandra Pentaghast
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	*Disgusted Noise*

James watched from the balcony of his quarters at the courtyard below. Soldiers training against one another under Cullen’s watchful eye, Josephine expertly shuffling various dignitaries here and there, expertly manoeuvring the mine field that was ‘The Game’, and ravens coming and going from the owlery with messages from Leliana to the far reaches of the world. The Inquisition was finally coming into its own and Skyhold had never been busier. That’s why the sheer lack of life over by the straw dummies that Cassandra usually frequented seemed strange. Grabbing his trusty spyglass, James could take in the carnage. Straw dummies lay there, decapitated and dismembered, their deaths were not merciful. Swords, broken, chipped, and warped lay scattered around the remains like jagged teeth. Closing the spyglass, James leapt from his perch, down onto the roof of the main hall, determined to find out what was wrong with his Lady Seeker.

Cassandra heaved as she pulled her sword free from another dummy. This one too, she had reduced to splinters and firewood and yet her anger still hadn’t waned. Today was a bad day, report after report of problems came flying across her desk, and everything else that could have gone wrong, did, because the maker and his bride can be horrible jokers at the best of times. She swung her sword through the air and immediately knew that the weight was off, and she had broken yet another one. If she didn’t stop soon, there would be none left. The broken swords were also beginning to grate on her nerves. She groaned as she threw the sword over to join the others. Walking over to a nearby mirror, she noticed the heavy sweat on her brow and her braid had become undone. She was happy to have forgone the top layer of her armour in place of a light tunic as the heat from the bright, sunny day, paired with the heat of the blacksmiths forge below and her rigorous meditation would have been too much. She heard footsteps and her head snapped to the staircase. It was one of Leliana’s scouts, a young female elf, barely 19 winters old by the look of her.

“L-Lady P-Pentaghast?”

“Yes?! Out with it?!”

Cassandra immediately regretted her tone and the poor scout seemed almost paralysed in her fiery gaze. They stood there motionless for a few moments until the scouts’ hand flew out and handed her a scroll.

“The Lady N-Nightingale asked me t-to deliver a m-message to you. She said t-that I was to deliver it r-right away!”

Cassandra broke the seal and opened the letter. As she read, the violent fire in her grew larger as the letter’s contents stoked the flames. Lucien had done significant damage to the Seeker’s of Truth, and despite the Lord Seeker having been sent to meet the maker and face his judgement, it had been too late. Cassandra was pretty much the last member of the Order. Suddenly she remembered that she wasn’t alone, and her gaze flew up and met the scouts. This time, the scout really did seem paralyzed, like prey looking into the eyes of a predator, waiting for the deathblow.

“Leave me.”

The scout gave a small ‘eep’ as she ran for her life, but Cassandra didn’t pay her any mind as she lifted a new sword and swung it in an arc to bury in a training dummy but stopped when she noticed James standing behind her.

“James! How did you get in here?”

Cassandra followed James gaze over to an open window in the corner. Dropping the sword from her hand, she allowed James to guide her over to an open seat and he promptly sat beside her.

“Mind if I ask why you seem to think that straw training dummies seem to be spying on us for Corypheus?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well it’s the only reason that I can think of that so many of them should be quite so dead…”

Cassandra narrowed her eyes and glared at James who raised his own hands in surrender soon after. “They have been… therapeutic.”

“Well, how about telling me what’s on your mind? I’ll sacrifice myself in order to save the other straw dummies from such a fate.”

Cassandra glared at James again but failed when she saw his crooked grin. “I have received nothing but bad news today.”

“We’re fighting one of the original darkspawn and his army of angry Tevinters and templars. I thought everyday would be a day of bad news.”

“That is true, but today is especially poor. Reports of giants taking out our patrols or simply destroying innocents after flying into a rage. Agents aren’t reporting in, while reports of more and more Venatori are coming in every day. And then I received this, not too long ago.”

James took the letter from her outstretched hand. He knew how important the Seekers were to Cassandra. In fact, he was pretty sure that only he and Leliana were the only ones. To read such grave news would be enough to put anyone in this poor a mood. Cassandra rested her head on the back of her hand as she stared out into the courtyard at the people below. James wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, pressing a kiss against her temple.

“Don’t worry Cassandra. Everything will work out. You will rebuild the Seekers someday, and they will be greater than ever before.”

“What? I cannot?!”

“Says who?”

“I-I’m not the Lord Seeker.”

“No, you’re not. You’re the Lady Seeker. The only good thing about being the last of something is that there’s no one to give out when you declare yourself the one in charge.”

Cassandra was silent. Her brow knit together as she thought, and James found it immeasurably endearing. Pressing another kiss to her neck, he got up to leave. Cassandra broke out of her reverie, looking confused.

“Josie only let me leave my room briefly, and I have a stack of papers as tall as the bull to go through. Meet me up in my quarters later?”

Cassandra smiled. “Of course.”

James eyes lit up. “I will see you later then.” He grabbed her hand and pressed his lips to her knuckles. “I love you, my lady.” Cassandra’s face went scarlet red at the intimate action. “Will you do me a favour?”

“If it is within my power to do so, I will.”

“Take it easy on the dummies.”

The scarlet colour in her cheeks disappeared before her eyes grew cold and narrowed. Grabbing a nearby book, she threw it but it hit only air as it landed by the window that James had just left through.

Cassandra pushed open the door to James’ quarters. They have been courting each other for the last two months but despite his insistence that she could come up and stay there whenever she wanted, Cassandra still felt uneasy about the late-night trips to the Inquisitor’s private quarters. The Orlesians that plagued Skyhold at all times now, were capable of spinning tales that would paint it as scandalous. As sure as she was of her feelings for James and his own feelings for her, she would be remiss if she said she wouldn’t care about the impact the scandal would have on the Inquisition and its reputation as an order in search of peace.

As she climbed the familiar steps, she began to notice scents of lilac and lavender. She could hear the wood crackling in the hearth and the soft tones of the musician’s downstairs. When she reached the top, she immediately spotted the large tub full of hot water just as James walked out of the nearby closet.

“ah, there you are. I was wondering if you were ever going to come up.”

\---

He was dressed in leathers and a loose fitted tunic. The strings were untied, and the neck lay open, giving the Seeker plenty to look at and observe.

“I had no idea that you were bathing. I’ll come back later!”

“Nonsense, I’m not bathing. That’s for you.”

“For me?”

James laughed. “Yes, is that so strange?”

“No, but I’m alright.”

“No, you’re not. I can see from here that you’re still as stressed as you were earlier, and I wouldn’t be a very good gentlemen if I allowed my lady to hurt like that.”

James could see her nervousness. Their relationship wasn’t public knowledge, and if anyone saw the intimate action, it would be impossible to keep it contained. He had thought of this in advance, however.

“Don’t worry. I told everyone that I was not to be disturbed tonight under threat of them facing Andraste’s fury.”

Cassandra leaned on one side with her arms crossed.

“What? I’m pretty sure that Andraste herself took a break every now and then. Plus she wouldn’t mind that I took her name slightly in vain. It’s to help her two biggest supporters.”

James placed a towel beside the wooden tub and brought Cassandra closer towards it. The calming floral aroma rising from the tub was almost intoxicating and she had to admit that it looked incredible.

“All right.” Cassandra’s gaze lifted from the tub and met James, immediately softening. “Thank you.”

James took her hand again and kissed it again on the knuckle. “Anything for my Lady. You undress and get in the tub while I go and see what I can salvage from the kitchens.”

Cassandra watched James disappear and began to remove her clothes. Piece by piece, her clothes fell away until they laid in a heap by the tub. Slowly she stepped into the water which was indeed the perfect temperature and she pulled the braid from her hair before relaxing against the back of the tub. The calmness of the evening paired with the perfection of the water and the crackling of the fire meant that it took little to no time before Cassandra began to drift off and dream.

Despite being a new hub for almost every important person throughout Thedas, Skyhold thankfully grew silent around midnight which meant that James was able to reach the kitchen in no time. Scrambling together something took no time at all and James quickly found himself on the trail back to his room. Unfortunately, he underestimated the one soul in the fortress that was quieter than him.

“May I ask why you’re raiding the kitchen so late into the night?”

“Oh Leliana. Just felt peckish, that’s all.”

“Okay then. That’s a lot of food for being peckish…”

“Burnt a lot of calories today. Rigorous stuff.”

“A quill and ink can be tiring, can it not?” Leliana smiled. It was a rare but pleasant sight.

“Brutally so.”

Leliana took a look at James’ pilfered picnic. “You might enjoy that bottle of Nevarran Pinot Noir. I hear it’s delicious.”

“Good idea, can you hold these please?” James dumps his treasure into Leliana’s arms as he claims the bottle from one of the kitchen’s many pantries. Taking the remainder of his picnic back, James heads for his room, not before Leliana gets a quick question in, however.

“James? You wouldn’t happen to know where Cassandra is, do you?”

“Cassandra? N-no, haven’t seen her.”

“I see. I hope she hasn’t gotten lost somewhere in the fortress.”

“I wouldn’t think we need to worry about it. Cass can’t take care of herself.”

“I agree. Goodnight Inquisitor.”

“Goodnight, Lady Nightingale.”

James promptly disappeared back to his room, leaving Leliana alone with her thoughts. _‘His acting was good…’_

\---

Cassandra woke up when she heard someone coming up the stairs, yawning loudly as James came into view with a picnic large enough to feed an army.

“What’s all that?”

“I thought I would pamper you tonight.”

“But this is frivolous, wasteful.”

“And you deserve all of it.”

“You didn’t need to.”

“But I wanted to.”

Cassandra looked at the spread that James had grabbed from the kitchen. Cheeses, cold meats, small pastries, and fresh fruit. It definitely looked delicious. As he walked past her, she noticed the wine bottle and swiped it.

“Nevarran wine? Where did you find this?”

“Found it in the larders downstairs.”

“I haven’t tasted this since I last set foot in Nevarra. It is very hard to find outside of the border.”

James shrugged his shoulders and Cassandra stared at the bottle for a moment before she pulled the cork out with her teeth and took a sip. James couldn’t help but stare at her from his bed where he was setting up the rest of the spread and smiled. She sighed happily and sank slightly lower into the water.

“Tastes just like I remember.”

Cassandra stood up and stepped out of the tub, grabbing the towel that James had left out and dried herself down. Just then she also noticed a pair of her undergarments and looked up at James who was smiling mischievously.

“Before you say anything, I couldn’t ask you to bring a change in clothes because it would have given away my surprise.”

Cassandra’s brows arched as she stared at him. “I’m the good guy here!”

She pulled them on before grabbing a few cherries from the platter that he had put out on his bed.

“I will concede that I wouldn’t have come if I knew what you had in mind, but I am very grateful that you did.” She rewarded him with a full kiss on the lips. As she pulled away, she noticed that his eyes had glazed over but there was a heated hunger behind them.

“You’re more than welcome, now lay back.”

“What? Why?”

“Trust me?”

“Of course, but- “

“Then lay back please and get comfortable.”

Climbing up onto the large plush bed, she laid down and graciously took the cup of wine that came some seconds later. Hearing the pop of a small, corked bottle, Cassandra looked down towards her feet where James was seated on a stool, but she wasn’t able to see a bottle.

“What are you doing James?”

“I’m beginning to think that you don’t really trust me.”

Cassandra’s mouth hung open for a short time until she huffed and laid back down on the pillows. Suddenly a new floral bouquet reached her nose and before she could ask what the source of it was, she groaned in relief as James began to massage the muscles in her feet.

“Your muscles seem tense and knotted. Aren’t they sore?”

As he continued his attack on her sore muscles, Cassandra found she couldn’t speak as it would lead the entire fortress to knowing where she was, so she nodded.

“Let me know if I hurt you, alright?”

But he didn’t. By the Maker’s grace, it was probably as close to the Golden City as she would ever get. Despite her knowing that his hands were calloused and sore from fighting over the years, now they felt like they were made from the softest silk and gentlest velvet. His assault on her taut and knotted muscles was relentless as she slowly travelled along her body, massaging scars both old and new, scars born from bravery and some from hubris and ignorance and she was the most beautiful soul that he had ever seen. At times he was able to elicit the gentlest moans from her, and despite it being the sexiest sound he’d ever heard, he buried those thoughts for now and focused all his attention on the beautiful woman beneath him. By the time he was finally finished, Cassandra couldn’t move. She was the most relaxed than she had ever been in her whole life and any effort to move even the smallest bit was met with quivering muscle. Cassandra had to fight to keep her eyes open, as she watched James wipe the massage oil from his hands, and finally come over and join her on the bed. James grabbed the cup from her grasp and emptied the cup before kissing Cassandra deeply. She could make out the scents of elfroot and rose that seemed to stick to him from the garden, and the fruity notes from the wine that was just enough to send her into a blissful dreamless sleep unlike anything she had ever experienced before.

\---

The next morning, the sun lit up the room and Cassandra awoke to the sweet sounds of the birds chirping from the balcony outside. Wiping her eyes, she felt more relaxed them ever before, and spotted a note laying beside her on the bed. She recognized the penmanship immediately.

_‘I hope you slept well,_

_I’ve taken Dorian, Cole, and Warden Blackwall to the Hinterlands because we got some reports of increased Outlaw activity._

_Didn’t want to wake you earlier, as you looked too beautiful to disturb._

_Looking forward to seeing you later,_

_Yours forever,_

_James._

_P.S: I took the liberty of grabbing you some leathers and a tunic. They’re at the foot of the bed.’_

Picking up some cheese from the platter, Cassandra looked down at Skyhold that was already in full swing. Throwing on the leathers and tunic, Cassandra decided that she had best apologise to the scout from yesterday.


End file.
